By Christopher Lenois

LAPLACE – St. John the Baptist Parish President Nickie Monica is scheduled to attend a meeting Thursday to discuss a proposed new animal shelter, said shelter manager Linda Allen.

The current plan on the table calls for a $175,000 facility to be built on eight acres of land near St. John Airport in Reserve. Built a company that specializes in animal shelter design, the modular structure would increase kennel space and unite all portions of the shelter into the same building, as opposed to the three separate buildings the shelter currently utilizes. The council has rejected a plan that called for a $1.5 million shelter, a plan that represented the “ideal” for a shelter, according to Allen, but was not economically feasible for the parish.

“The real problem is there is no dedicated source of funding for the shelter,” said Chris Guidry, the chief administrative officer for St. John Parish. Guidry said funding for the maintenance of the shelter has come from the Public Works budget and the general fund, neither has a great deal of flexibility.

Community support for the shelter is favorable. Several citizens expressed their willingness to have their taxes raised to support the shelter.

“Without seeing the numbers, or how it was financed it’s difficult to say. But I would be in favor of it,” said Jerry Giangarosso of LaPlace. Giangarosso said the shelter was “disgusting” when he brought a stray cat there four years ago. “The people were competent and caring, but the facility was lacking.”

“I’ve gotten both of my dogs from there,” said Gidget O’Daniels of LaPlace, who concurred with Giangarosso’s assessment of the shelter’s condition. “It was all the vet could do to clean them up.”

David Foster of Reserve said support for the shelter means better protection.

“There’s a lot of stray dogs in my neighborhood. In the summer especially for some reason,” said Foster. “No one knows who they belong to. They could bite the kids playing out there.

St. John has just one animal control officer, and frequently looks to St. Charles parish shelter for assistance. The St. Charles shelter is slightly smaller than St. John’s, according to supervisor Lee Ann Mathere, but has three officers on duty and better facilities.

“I’ve gotten calls from Hammond to Slidell because they hear about my shelter,” said Mathere. “The administration is very responsive. If I can tell them what I need and why I need it, they’re great. We’ve upgraded our food, our bedding, and the Humane society gives us medicine.”

The St. Charles Parish Council approved $20,000 for improvements to the shelter this year, which includes the construction of a separate building to house the cats. But Mathere said she too, wishes she could build a bigger shelter from scratch.

“Our facility is adequate. But every new subdivison I see going in, every new family means more pets,” said Mathere “It’s like working on the interstate, by the time we build one extra lane, we need another one.”